Man dies of shock while fleeing Indonesian quake

One man has collapsed and died of shock while fleeing his home during a 6.4-magnitude earthquake, which struck off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday morning.

The US Geological Survey says the quake struck around 7:30 am Wednesday local time, some 300 kilometres south-west of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, at a depth of 45 kilometres.

A resident on Simeulue, a small island about 150 kilometres off Sumatra's west coast, says the ground shook violently for about a minute.

"People rushed out of their homes in panic. We felt strong shaking for about a minute, but so far there is no apparent sign of damage," said Abdul Karim, a 44-year-old civil servant in Sinabang, the capital of Simeulue island.

"People were crying, grabbing their belongings and rushing out of their homes," said an AFP reporter in Sinabang.

"Some people are returning inside their homes, but others are still outside, afraid there may be aftershocks."

Indonesia's meteorology agency has not issued a tsunami warning and confirms there are no reports of damage so far.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology also says the Indonesian quake poses no tsunami threat to Australia.